The onboard TV service, a first of its kind in Indian Railways, will be provided in Kalka Shatabdi, Lucknow Shatabdi, Amritsar Shatabdi, Bhopal Shatabdi, Dehradun Shatabdi, Ludhiana Shatabdi and Ajmer Shatabdi.

However, Northern Railway will not spend anything to provide the onboard service. "We have prepared a revenue model in which neither the Railways nor the passenger will have to pay anything for availing the DTH service in trains," the DRM said.

Meghdoot Private Ltd and Media on Track, two agencies that have been shortlisted to execute the project, will bear the cost of providing the service.

As per the revenue model, 75 per cent of screening timing will be kept for airing channels and 25 per cent timing will be for airing advertisements.

"We will get one per cent of ad revenue from these two agencies, which will be about Rs 1.5 crore a year," he said.

The two agencies will be given the contract for a minimum period of five years.

As a value addition, the service providers will also have opportunities to offer taxi and hotel rooms to passengers.